Friday, January 18, 2008

Today it was announced that the Vice President and Editor of Golfweek Magazine was FIRED for putting a picture of a noose on the cover of this week's release. Now I know this is a football forum, but it is the offseason, golf IS a sport, and this is an issue that affects us all. Here's why.

This country is built on faith, a faith that thrives on imagery. Everywhere you look there is someone or something venerating the cross - people walking around with a cross around their necks, or a cross on a bumper sticker, or worshipping at a place with crosses all over the walls, behind the pulpit, and even on the priest's clothing. This man-made holy symbol of devotion to the LORD, this idol that is so prevalently and proudly displayed by all professed Christians, is something that they actually worship to honor God.

Now before you get upset at me, let me tell you that I am a Christian and this is not and will not be a religious blog or one bashing religious beliefs or freedoms. But what this post will do is use this imagery to expose how screwed up our values are in what has now become one of the most HYPOCRITICAL issues we have ever witnessed. What it does have to do with is a noose. I have no idea how many blacks were actually hung from a tree, or if it is more than the black ages where anyone who spoke out against anything, no matter what color they were, were hung, or if it can come close to the number of people Hitler executed by means way worse than a noose, but what I do know is that all of this combined does not even come close to the worst lynching of all time, and that is the SON OF GOD BEING HUNG ON A CROSS.

Once again, I stress that I am not bashing veneration of the cross here. I am only using it as a comparison to illustrate the sheer stupidity of the uproar over this magazine cover. Why is it that around the world people are united as one displaying pictures of the method used to kill Jesus but when it comes to displaying a picture of what mere mortals died upon it leads to the whole country being divided, a man losing his job, and discussions of what some people are calling "racism and hatred in it's worst form?" How many people in the South do you think are upset about this noose incident? Considering that the South is predominantly black, then it's probably a huge majority. Now how many of these are Baptists, most notably Southern Baptists? Probably most of them. And if you know Southern Baptists, you know they LOVE displaying the cross. It is so typical of people to think they can do and say what they want when it comes to religion, but a white man display a picture of a noose on the cover of a free speech publication? "OMG! Oh no he dinn't!"

How do you think it makes the LORD feel when people are more upset about an image like this than one of what HE was killed on? I once thought of it like this - If your child was killed by a gun, would you walk around with a gun pendant hanging around your neck? Would you have pictures of the NRA on your wall? How pissed off would you be if you saw someone worshipping a gun? But more importantly, how many of you would even dream of having pictures of a noose on your wall? Hopefully none of you.

So really then - it's ONLY a noose! What does the cross represent? The lynching of Jesus. Was the editor of Newsweek fired for putting a cross on the cover? NO! Move on, people, and let it go. Only when we put more emphasis on pleasing our Creator than we do on pleasing humans will we ever be truly united as a community, a country and as a World.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Who would ever suspect that with the firings of coaches and the resignations of others that we would have to worry about where Isaac Bruce will be next year. I cannot believe that the Rams front office is going to put him, and us, through this again. Two years ago it took us all by surprise when he was released as a "salary cap casualty" but thankfully was then re-signed almost immediately. If this happens again I don't know if we will be so lucky this time. What if he doesn't come back? What if he reacts like any other sane person would and gets so pissed off that he flips Shaw the finger and goes somewhere else? Are we prepared for this? I know I'm not. And if this happens, I am pretty sure that he won't be the only one doing it. With fan morale as low as it is, this could be the proverbial camel.

I know that times change and all that, but this would be hard to take. We had to grieve when Kurt was let go, when Marshall's injuries took him away for good, and now if Bruce goes it will officially end the GSOT. Never again will it be matched. I don't care how many points the Vikings put up in 1998 and that we fell 17 points shy of breaking their record, or that the Patriots (cheaters) just shattered it on the way to 16-0. Nothing will ever come close to what our team did in 1999-2000.

So is this it for Bruce? Only time will tell. Hopefully we'll see #80 lining up in Rams colors next season, but if not, let me be the first one to say a farewell................